Sooo, something kinda cool is going on today!

Since I redid my design I have had a few people comment on the pictures in the about me section and my new blog button.  Well today I can reveal why I took those pictures in the first place!

Today a photo shoot I was a part of about a month ago was published on Style Me Pretty!!  If you don't know, this is a pretty big wedding blog.  It is so great for the vendors involved, they get a lot of exposure through posting their weddings on this site. 

The shots were done by Brienne Michelle Photography.  She is one.talented.lady. {and a proud sponsor - button in the sidebar!}  I was so impressed with her design and work, I felt so beautiful!!

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know about Nakate.  Shanley Knox has brought back jewelry to America to sell to support the African women who make it.  What a great thing, right?  Well they needed models for a photo shoot and I of course offered Lavar and myself for it!  Lavar was less than thrilled, but like the good husband he is, he bucked up and headed out.  I mean, he's so handsome, it wouldn't have been so great without him!

If you want to check out the extent of my modeling career, you can see the pictures from the Bohemian Styled shoot here.  You can also see the entire gallery of pictures here.  

Hope you like them!  I would love to hear what you think!

The Nakate Project- where will you take Africa?

Happy Monday everyone! This week is a really important, fun week! Not only is it my birthday tomorrow, we got some cool things going on with the blog! Today I want to tell you about The Nakate Project. If you haven't heard of them, please read on! It is incredibly inspiring and I know you will be asking 'how can I help?!' So here ya go:

This week, the social enterprise Nakate will be raising $2,000 for a group of women and their families in Uganda. Nakate is an enterprise by nature, and usually makes their money to send back to Uganda through selling handmade goods from Kakooge, Uganda. But this week is different. This week, they are directly raising funds to wire back to the women they work with to boost their income in time for school fees, the rainy season and a nearby medical clinic that many of them are traveling to this week. The fundraiser is focused on 40 families, and giving them a break and a much needed financial boost during a hard time of the year.

Founder, Shanley Knox, writes "The goal of this fundraiser is to be able to give 100% of these funds to 40 families in Kakooge, Uganda. We are not paying ourselves. We are not spending any of this money to grow our organization. We are sending it all to Uganda."

You can donate to the fundraiser through The Tipping Bucket. The catch is that Nakate has to meet their goal in order to get this money. The way Tipping Bucket works, organizations only get their funding if they are able to reach their targeted amount during a scheduled amount of time. The Tipping Bucket is based on the belief that every single dollar helps, so hurry over and donate your dollar right now!

Below  is a photo of Mirembe. Like many peasants in Kakooge, twenty year old Mirembe hires herself out to dig cassava roots in order to survive. The firstborn of four children, Mirembe lost her father to AIDS in 2003, and her mother to AIDS in 2007. She has been looking after her younger siblings for three years now, one of whom she lost to kidney problems when he was 17. $40.00 of this fundraiser will go straight to Mirembe's pocket!

Visit Tipping Bucket to donate.

Note: there will also be a giveaway for those who donate $1.00 or more to this fundraiser - visit Nakate's facebook page for information on how to enter!

Where will you take Africa with you today?

Have you heard about the Nakate Project?  My friend Shanley Knox is doing something special.  Something more than 9 to 5.  Here is a little bit about the project.

"In 2010, we met a 7-year-old named Cossy Nakate. Suffering from AIDS, orphaned and living in a small African village called Kakooge, Cossy impacted us in a way we couldn’t stop thinking about. We shared our lunch with her. We started paying for her food every month. But it wasn’t enough. We knew we had to change not only her life, but the lives of the women in her village – and the lives of their daughters after them."

Are you interested in learning more?  Watch this video.  Take the time to check it out.  I think you will be impressed.  I know I was. 

You can check out the Facebook page, follow on Twitter, and check out their site.  What an awesome thing Shanley is doing.  I just have to be a part of this, even if it is just in a small way.  To think outside ourselves.  To reach out to others who are less fortunate. 

Hope you are had a great holiday weekend!